Chakotay's Towel
by LeftennantAskara
Summary: Many of us know the story of Isabo's shirt and how it fits into our Voyager universe. This is the lesser-known story of Chakotay's towel. Written for the VAMB Secret Drabble 2014. A gift for elem. First line: Do you need more time?
1. Chapter 1: Deer in the Headlights

"... any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with." - Douglas Adams _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_

* * *

1. Deer in the Headlights

"Do you need more time?" A gentle baritone voice called from the bathroom.

Kathryn Janeway gasped and almost dropped the bundle she held. "Commander! I'm sorry to intrude. I thought you were still in deflector control."

Chakotay emerged from the bathroom, a worn cotton towel slung over his hips and a puzzled expression on his face. "Captain? I thought you were Ensign Kaplan."

"I wanted to make sure they hadn't missed any of Cavit's belongings. And I... brought you a uniform. The replicators are down." She handed him the bundle and tried to look anywhere but the expanse of clean male skin in front of her face. Her eyes caught the edge of a Starfleet emblem on his towel. "Nice towel. Do they give those out in the Maquis?"

"It's a lucky one from my teaching days. I'm grateful it was rescued."

"I hope you're right. We could use all the luck we can get."

They smiled at one another and were still for a moment.

"I should dress -"

"I should let you go. See you on the bridge, Commander." She turned smartly and exited his quarters.

As the doors closed, a wolfish smile spread over his face.


	2. Chapter 2: Catch in the Throat

Nose in a PADD, Kathryn meandered through their shelter reviewing the Doctor's research on their illness. She walked unseeing toward the washroom and was just leaning into the door when it opened. She stumbled in.

"New Earth to Kathryn," Chakotay teased as she pushed against his bare chest to right herself.

"Hmmm?"

"Why so engrossed?"

Without taking her eyes off the PADD, she responded, "It's the these RNA-like promoter regions that are causing the trouble; they undergo rapid mutation and rarely fail. Such a high tolerance for variation is -"

"Maybe it's time for a break." He pressed down on the PADD until she looked at him.

Kathryn was immediately flustered by his state of undress but hid it well. "Chakotay, you brought the towel of dubious fortune."

"It's a lucky towel," he insisted. "We're still alive, aren't we?"

"We could be stranded here for the rest of our lives."

"We're lucky it's just us. We could be stuck here with Neelix and Tom and Harry…"

Kathryn blanched. "Enough!"

He touched her hand. "I feel very lucky to be here with you, Kathryn."

"I'd feel the same if you wouldn't monopolize the bathroom. You done?"

He gaped, laughed and left.


	3. Chapter 3: Punch in the Gut

He should have been blocking lower. He knew better: knew his opponent, knew the height difference wouldn't be to his advantage. When he felt the tiny powerful fists connect with his midsection, he knew he was out. Gasping for air, he heaved his aching body from the ring.

"I've told you how many times now - "

"Computer delete Boothby." He had come to the holodeck to work off some troublesome emotions days after Kathryn's near-death. Instead of spurring him on, his feelings weighed him down, leaving him slow and heavy on his feet.

Halfway through his sonic shower, the hologrid fritzed out taking the lights with it. Grabbing the only piece of fabric in his vicinity he fumbled for the exit.

"Commander." A light shone in his eyes as he pried open the doors.

"Tuvok. Thank goodness. Will you help me find my uniform? I'd like to get it on before - "

"O, Chakotay," the captain's voice came from the doorway as she happened upon the sorry scene. "What fresh hell has your lucky towel brought you this time?"

Chakotay snatched his uniform off the ground. "With all due respect, Captain: Kindly stow it. I'll see you on the bridge."


	4. Chapter 4: Fire in the Hole

_Year of Hell: Day 67_

When the fire suppression system failed on deck three, Tuvok sent a team to extinguish the evening, the command team set aside some time to sort through the wreckage in their quarters. They had both elected to live in their offices to save the energy and in response to the fluctuating environmental controls.

"Good news, Kathryn. Your books are still intact. The covers are a little scorched, though."

"Chakotay…"

"What is it?" He took the piece of charred embroidery she handed him.

"I'm sorry."

A surge of helplessness overwhelmed him. "Looks like our luck has run out."

"It's only a towel. It's not an omen."

"We can't keep going like this, Captain. We need to find a planet and make some repairs."

"Are you insane? We'll be sitting ducks!"

"Are we really better off crippled in space?"

"The Krenim have sealed their own fate; there's been no sign of them -"

"They'll be back. I can feel it."

"Chakotay, don't lose faith on me now. Please. I need you with me on this." She took his hands in hers and when he wouldn't look her in the eye softly repeated, "Please," and she kissed him tenderly.


	5. Chapter 5: Bull in a China Shop

The chime rang on Chakotay's quarters just as he stepped out of the sonic shower.

"Come."

"Chakotay?"

"In here."

"I can come back."

"No need." He emerged, towel in hand, and watched her search his face. "I promise I'm fine, Kathryn."

"That obvious, am I? I brought you tea."

"Cheers, Captain." He grinned, brought the mug to his lips, and closed his eyes.

"I pushed you too hard today." The worry lines on her face seemed etched in recently.

"You pushed me as hard as Boothby would have."

"Boothby would be less concerned about your psychological well-being than I am."

"I had to get back into the ring, Kathryn. I didn't want to let the fear sink in."

She nodded and absently fingered his towel.

"You should join me sometime. Your dance background would come in handy."

"Are you sure you're not just looking for a reason to punch your captain in the nose?"

He leaned in, eyes sparkling. "Kathryn, if I had ulterior motives, I'd have offered to teach you to wrestle."

She threw the towel in his face. "Behave, Commander."


	6. Chapter 6: Dance in the Dark

Kathryn Janeway bent over to reach her water and took a sip. She panted as she turned back to the barre.

"Donc, encore, Katrine." The sharp, accented voice of her instructor filled the sunlit studio. Kathryn had been tempted to alter the weather parameters to suit her mood, but had left them alone thinking that the light levels would be good for her. "Puis. Prépare, port de bras, tendu, et vitement plié et relevée. Bien. Avec la musique."

The captain allowed herself to become absorbed in the movements, focusing on her extension, pointing her foot and rounding her arms and pushing aside the gloom that had settled on her since the Equinox fiasco. As she rose on demi-pointe and turned to complete the exercise on the other side, her eyes fell upon a familiar towel hanging on the other end of the barre. She froze.

"Am I hogging the holodeck again, Chakotay?"

"Don't stop on my account, Captain." He was leaning against a wall opposite the barre, his expression inscrutable.

She bristled at the use of her rank. "There are certain things to which a Captain should not subject her crew. Computer, end program. Good night, Commander."


	7. Chapter 7: Bias in the Law

Loitering in Chakotay's quarters while he unpacked, Kathryn watched him pull a newly replicated towel from his overnight bag. "You didn't bring your towel."

"No. It's starting to lose its structural integrity." Chakotay's mood had been buoyant since his return. "So I decided to have it sanitized and I'm keeping it for B'Elanna to use as a baby blanket."

"That's... very sweet, Chakotay. I'm sure she'll have plenty of baby blankets, though. Half the crew is making them. I'm making her a few myself"

"New parents can never have too many baby blankets. Plus, I decided you were right."

"Oh?"

"It was a towel of questionable fortune for me. If I pass it on, it might be good luck for someone else. Anyway, this new one is much more absorbent."

"I suppose it would be." Kathryn turned away. She needed to escape, to get away and process the reasons this conversation was creating a heavy feeling in her gut, but she was drawing a blank on reasons to leave.

"Listen, Kathryn, I'm beat. I'll see you in the morning."

"Of course. Goodnight Chakotay."

Out in the corridor, Kathryn put her face in her hands and let her heart sink.


	8. Chapter 8: Beauty in the Breakdown

The captain smiled down at her newest crew member as Miral squirmed weakly and made sleepy whimpering noises. Not conscious enough to work up to a full cry, she relaxed into Kathryn Janeway's arms.

"She's wonderful, B'Elanna." Janeway placed a hand on her chief engineer's shoulder.

"Glad she passes inspection, Captain." B'Elanna closed her eyes as her commanding officer searched for a place to sit.

Finding the chair next to the biobed full of presents, Janeway shifted Miral more securely into the crook of her arm and, taking care not to jostle the infant, moved the piles of blankets and diapers to a nearby cart. Just as she was about to lower herself to the chair, she spotted the white worn terry cloth folded in the corner. She picked it up, sat and stared at it.

"Look Miral. Chakotay gave you his lucky towel."

Something in her tone made B'Elanna take notice of the way Janeway was touching the fabric. She was a bit surprised to see tears forming in her captain's eyes.

Janeway rose to lay Miral in her crib, discreetly wiping at her eyes before she turned back to the bio bed.

"Well. It's been a long hard day for all of us. I'll let you get some sleep, B'Elanna." She folded the towel carefully.

B'Elanna snorted. "I don't think I understand what possessed Chakotay to give us that old rag, Captain. I remember he used to hang it to dry over a leaky pipe in his quarters on the Liberty. It must have decades of filth embedded in the fibres."

"He seemed to think it would bring you luck."

"We received so many lovely blankets from the rest of the crew, especially the ones you made for us, Captain. He must be crazy to think I'd give that I'd give that to Miral."

Janeway was silent for a moment, still holding the towel. "B'Elanna... This is going to seem strange but... Could I hold on to this for Miral? I can give it to her when she's older. Maybe she'll find it funny when she's a teenager. In the meantime, I'll make sure she wants for nothing. Wherever you and Tom end up, I'll make sure she has everything she needs." Janeway shifted uncomfortably, her jaw clenching at the awkwardness of having to make such a request.

"Take it, Captain. I'd consider it a favour. If Chakotay asks I'll tell him it got lost in the move. I was considering 'losing it' anyway. And you're right, she'll probably think it's hilarious when she's older. It's a perfect thirteenth birthday present. 'Look what your crazy uncle Chakotay wanted to give you when you were a baby, Miral.'" Their laughter broke the tension and the captain bade B'Elanna sleep well and took her leave, Chakotay's towel tucked securely under her arm.

* * *

That evening, Janeway looked around her sparse quarters. Most of her belongings were packed away in the storage containers stacked against the bulkhead near the door. The hum of adrenaline through her body that had been consistent since the Admiral's arrival, still drove her mind to endless distraction. The towel lay on her lounge chair.

She had run through half a dozen scenarios in which she eliminated the towel from her life: From quietly returning it to B'Elanna as she slept, to throwing it out an airlock, introducing it to the business end of a phaser rifle or burning it in effigy. She would do none of this.

Instead, she picked up the towel and brought it to her bed. Stripping her uniform, she laid the towel over her pillow and ordered the lights out. Familiar stars lit her quarters and she imagined the towel retained some of Chakotay's scent. It was impossible, of course but she could almost detect that mix of tea and midsummer air that was so essentially him, that evoked images of dimples and candlelight that were so irrevocably resident in Chakotay's corner of her mind and so undeniably no longer a part of her life.

Seven years' worth of tears welled up inside Voyager's brave captain. Gratitude and sorrow and love all released in a flood and poured out onto Chakotay's towel. Kathryn Janeway slept little but woke weightless and ready to embark upon her next journey.


End file.
